Countdown: Saleh's Regime Falls in March

Yemen Post editorial:

With all the advice President Saleh was given to avoid his regime fall, Saleh insisted on following the same tactics his fallen friends Mubarak and Bin Ali thought were correct.

Killing protesters, attacking journalists, threatening opposition followers, and vowing to fight until last drop of blood is what Yemen witnessed in February.

We expected reforms, actions not promises, dialogue with opposition, and ending family control over the Yemeni military. That did not take place and that is why the regime will fall in March.

A senior opposition official we spoke to said, “For us as opposition, the easiest way to destroy the current regime is to stay aside and watch it destroy itself by the wrong policies it takes.” It seems that the opposition are not as stupid as people thought they were.

With Saleh’s own Hashed tribe stabbing him in the back and demanding that his regime falls, the countdown starts today for the fall of Yemen’s current regime.

Everyone in Yemen is an enemy according to the regime. The southerners are separatists, the northerners are rebels, tribes are barbarians, and the political parties are foreign agents, which leaves no one loyal to the country except the ruling family that has stolen billions of dollars of wealth that belonged to the family.

Saleh should have built a prosperous nation in the 32 years in rule, and that was much more than enough time.

Saleh must force his sons, nephews, in laws, and his 18 close relatives in power to step down from power before they all fall, him included. Saleh is still respected in Yemen, but if he plays his cards unwisely over the next ten days, his respect will fall when he falls.

Recent history has proved that the unexpected can be expected at anytime and without prior notice. The magic carpet of yesterday is the falling carpet of today.

Saleh described ruling Yemen like dancing on heads of snakes, so, most likely by the end of March, Saleh will be unemployed and not dancing on heads of snakes.

Hakim Almasmari is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Yemen Post Newspaper.